Category: Best Kept Front Garden

Monthly news, June 2026

2026 Plant Swap and Sale
Thank you to everyone who joined this year’s plant swap and sale. It was, as always, a lovely morning and we hope that your swaps and purchases are doing well. Thanks to your generosity, we raised almost £200, which will go towards FGA projects and events in the village.

2026 Best Kept Front Garden competition
We are currently finalising the judging dates for the annual competition. We anticipate that preliminary area judging will be performed by FGA committee members during mid/late June and the shortlisted gardens will be judged in early July (dates TBC). The Foxton resident with best kept front garden will be awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Cup at the Village Show in September.

Foxton Village Show – Saturday, September 12th 2026
Save the date for the annual village show! More details will be revealed over the coming months including further details of categories. The committee are currently putting together plans for the event.

Additionally if you are a local business or club and would like to advertise in our programme or take a tabletop exhibit space at the show please get in touch! This is a super opportunity to join us on the day or have your advert delivered to more than 500 homes in Foxton when we distribute the show programme in August. Don’t miss this promotional opportunity while supporting the great work of the FGA.

Local clubs can have a table for free. Businesses can participate for a small fee:

  • Tabletop exhibit space: £25
  • Programme adverts: Full Page £30 / Half Page £20 / Quarter Page £15

Complete our contact form with your interest and we’ll get in touch to arrange the details.

Progress Update on the Allotment Improvement Plan
From our Allotments Chair, Rachel Harrison:

May has been difficult weather-wise, a freezing cold start, knocking back sprouting potatoes and then boiling hot, scorching the earth. But still no real rain. As a result, the grass seed sown at the Illingworth Gate has not sprouted… yet. However, there is some other progress to report. Gradual clearance of Plot 4 has continued, mainly pulling out extensive stinging nettle roots and clearing old plastic mulching fabric. All to make room for the installation of the bench beneath our new pergola. The bench will arrive on 29th May and be installed soon thereafter.

A water butt has been sourced together with down pipe and fixings so we can collect water from the pergola roof. As the ground is cleared and levelled this will be installed. We have grass seed and wildflower mixes to spread wherever and whenever the conditions are right. At the beginning of the month we tried out, with success, a method of bracing the deformed water tanks, starting on the worst tank. Now we have a strong and secure vessel with a new lid, (see pictures below) so will do the same for the tank near the Illingworth Gate in due course. Plans for the new 5th tank have been consulted upon, i.e. exactly which spot to place said tank. Recycled blocks have been contributed, upon which to stand the tank (thanks Earl). These now mark the spot at the crossroads of the main paths.

The Tree Surgery contractors have visited again to give an up-to-date quote. It is 10 months since they gave a price and some of the specification has changed due to clearance work over the winter. We have also sought necessary permissions to get the contractors chipping machine across the Rec to the allotments. As soon as the revised quote is received they will be booked so we can meet the requirements of the Grant Application to complete the work within 12 months.

Monthly news, June 2025

  • Sign up for our wildlife photography workshop, Sunday 20th July 2025

Local photographer André Neves will be running a practical photography workshop in the Dovecot Meadow. This will be a great opportunity to learn, improve or advance your skills photographing our local flora and fauna. The morning workshop will be open to all levels of experience and equipment but limited to 20 participants (minimum age 16) and cost £5. If you would like to take part in the practical session, please get in touch using the website contact form. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. In the afternoon, there will be a free to attend print exhibition and sale in the hall of some of André’s local wildlife images.

Tentative schedule:
09:30 – 09:40 Greetings and brief introduction of programme and speakers
09:40 – 10:00 Introduction to conservation activities in the Dovecot Meadow
10:00 – 10:20 Introduction to flower and insect photography
10:30 – 12:00 Practical session in the Meadow
12:00 – 13:00 Review w/ refreshments and exhibition browse
13:00 End of practical workshop
14:00 – 16:00 Local Wildlife Photography: exhibition and print sale by André

  • Open gardens, Sunday, June 22nd 2025, 1pm – 5.30pm

Come and explore some of the lovely gardens here in Foxton, stop off for refreshments in the church and hope for good weather. All profits will go to Help for Heroes in this year when we have been remembering the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

  • 2025 Best Kept Front Garden competition

Peter Jackson (from Scotsdales) has once again very kindly agreed to judge the competition. Preliminary area judging will be performed by FGA committee members beforehand and the shortlisted gardens will be judged by Peter on Tuesday 24th June 2025. The Foxton resident with best kept front garden will be awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Cup at the Village Show in September!

  • AGM

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2025 AGM and especially to our guest speaker Judith Large from the Shepreth Hedgehog Hospital. Minutes from the meeting are now available.

  • Plant Sale and Swap

Despite a cloudy start, the sun eventually came out and it was lovely to see so many of you taking part in the plant swap, winning a prize in the tombola and enjoying some tea and cakes provided by the WI. Thank you to everyone who came along. We hope you found some new plants for your gardens!

  • FGA website updates

We now have a Featured in Foxton section on the website where we will occasionally share news and stories related to projects and activities from the village. So far we have details of the Remembrance period Poppy Project being organised by the Foxton ‘Craft & Create’ Group, and an introduction to a local flower and insect photography project.  If you would like to keep up to date with the latest news from the FGA, please enter your e-mail address in the Subscribe box to receive the latest news in your inbox!

Monthly news, August 2024

2024 Village Show
This year’s Village Show will be on Saturday 7th September 2024. Every house in the village will receive a copy of the show schedule in early August. We do hope as many of you as possible will enter (even if only 1 item!) and come along on the day from 2pm in the afternoon to see the exhibits, have some refreshments, enter the raffle, watch the prize giving, bring along books for the stall and  enjoy a “catch up” with friends and neighbours. We have been blessed in recent years with glorious weather for the show so fingers crossed that we are lucky again in 2024. The show is a lovely celebration of life in our village so do come and support the show.

2024 Best Kept Front Garden Competition
Once again, Peter Jackson from Scotsdales very kindly came along to do the final judging for this year’s competition. Many congratulations to the following (and to all who won best in area!):

  • First place: 1 The Green (Susanna Lester)
  • Second place: 59 Station Rd. (Gerald and Susan Dyke)
  • Third place: 6 Illingworth Way (Jill Hockley)

The winner will be presented with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Cup at the Village Show in September.

Monthly news, June 2024

2024 Best Kept Front Garden Competition, judging on Thursday, 6th June 2024
Peter Jackson (from Scotsdales) has very kindly agreed to judge the competition again. As usual, committee members will do the preliminary area judging beforehand. The Foxton resident with best kept front garden will be awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Cup at the Village Show in September.

Foxton Village Show
The categories for the Photos and Craft categories at the Village Show to be held on Saturday, September 7th 2024, are as follows:

Photos:

      1. Birds
      2. Skies
      3. Compeition
      4. Water
      5. Gardens

Craft, and an example of:

      1. Sewing
      2. Knitting or crochet
      3. Embroidery or tapestry
      4. Papercraft
      5. Painting
      6. Ceramics or pottery

Every house will receive a copy of the show schedule in August but here are the entries for the following classes.

Cup holders from last year’s show are asked to return them for engraving to IAN CONSTABLE 11 Illingworth Way tel 871508 (ian.constable1@ntlworld.com) as soon as possible and certainly by the end of July. Please do this sooner rather than later as Ian has a lot of cups to collect and arrange for engraving!

And thank you everyone who came along to the AGM and Plant Sale and Swap. Short reports featuring photos from the events are available via the links.

Monthly news, July 2023

Plant Sale and Swap
Once again we were blessed with a lovely morning for the annual plant sale and swap on Sunday 21st May 2023. Lots of plants bought, swapped and sold and plenty of cakes, books and produce were sold. Many enjoyed fresh scones, a drink and chatting to friends both inside and out. Thank you to all who supported the event.

2023 Best Kept Front Garden Competition
The preliminary judging for the best front garden competition will be done by the FGA committee over the next few weeks. We are delighted that Peter Jackson from Scotsdales will be joining us on Wednesday 12th July 2023 to judge the shortlisted gardens and select the winner. The Foxton resident with best kept front garden will be awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Cup at the Village Show in September.

2023 Village Show
This year’s Village Show will be on Saturday 9th September 2023. In August, every house in the village will receive a copy of the show schedule. We do hope as many as possible will enter (even if only 1 item!) and come along to view the show in the afternoon. Stay tuned for more news about the 2023 show!

Return of cups
If you won a cup, or cups, at last year’s show, please can you return them by the end of July in order for them to be engraved. Please give them to Ian Constable, or contact us, if you have any questions.

Tips and hints for July
1. Deadhead flowers as they fade.
2. Divide bearded irises.
3. Layer and take cuttings from carnations and pinks.
4. Take semi ripe cuttings from shrubs.